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PEMBERTON — Premier Christy Clark got a close-up look Wednesday at the wildfires that have blanketed the Lower Mainland in layers of smoke and prompted air quality warnings.

After viewing the blazes from a helicopter, she stopped to offer condolences in Sechelt, where John Phare died last weekend while helping firefighters, then flew to Pemberton to speak to reporters. The tour followed online criticism of her low profile during the dire wildfire season (she was on vacation).

Several patients in Squamish, Whistler and Pemberton have been treated for mild respiratory symptoms such as sore throat and shortness of breath, according to Vancouver Coastal Health. Officials are warning anyone experiencing difficulty in breathing, chest pain or discomfort, or a sudden cough or irritated airways, to get medical help.

The helicopter carrying the premier could be heard long before it appeared through the smoke, touching down at the Pemberton fire base at about 2 p.m.

“I want to offer my condolences to the family and the community that are hurting so much with the loss of John Phare. … It has hit everyone on the ground really hard,” Clark told reporters.

“All of us should make sure that we’re not doing anything to put more people in harm’s way,” she said, adding that it was a reminder for people not to light fires, throw cigarettes out windows or park cars over dry grass.

Before her Wednesday appearance, Clark had come under attack on social media sites for not responding to B.C.’s wildfire woes. Critics had insisted that leaders should be available so they can be questioned during a crisis and Twitter users had created the hashtags #FindChristyClark and #WheresChristy.

She responded directly to the question of her whereabouts, explaining: “I’ve been on vacation, but I’ve been working every day, staying in close contact with (the forests minister), making sure that we’re doing everything we can to fight these fires.”

Though the province has blown through its roughly $60-million firefighting budget — having spent about $90 million already — Clark said more resources will be made available as needed.

“Fighting fires is an expensive process. Everyone knows that. But we are going to spend as much as we need to to make sure that people, property, our forests are protected,” she said.

Clark said that seeing the fires burning and men and women fighting them “really changes your perspective.”

“They are blackened and dirty and sweaty and they’re very much in harm’s way … and they’re doing that for all of us.”

Fire information officer Donna MacPherson says firefighters receive and appreciate the messages, some of which she includes in crew newsletters.

“You have no idea how much it means to them to hear your warm comments and words of encouragement,” she wrote. “And I often hear from the guys that they look up the website when they’re home, to see if anyone mentioned it.”

Residents in part of British Columbia's Cariboo region have been forced from their homes after a wildfire more than doubled in size.

Fire information officer Emily Epp says the blaze in the Puntzi Lake area, about 180 kilometres west of Williams Lake, is now about 12 square kilometres in size.

Thirty properties have been evacuated, and other residents are on alert to leave their homes at any moment.

About 190 wildfires are burning across the province, and some communities are blanketed with thick smoke.

Firefighters from Ontario have joined B.C. crews to help battle the blazes, and Australian crews are expected to arrive soon.

Two amphibious skimming aircraft have arrived from Ontario in Kamloops, according to the B.C. Wildfire Service, and will go to Vancouver Island today. An amphibious aircraft can skim water and continue fighting a fire without having to return to base.

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